A word about what is appropriate when developing a persona. Remember, if you are portraying a figure from 1762, or creating an environment from that period, the material culture would probably represent various years as well as cultures!
You would be likely to have great grandmother’s kettle, possibly a brand new tea pot; a new knife, but your father’s old musket. If you are English, you may have some redware from “home”, a Dutch saucepan you picked up in New York, and a French kettle your father got during a campaign in Canada!
Trading was brisk, people were mobile, cross cultural marriages and immigration brought together a great variety of objects under one family’s roof! Also, our frugal minded ancestors would have used an item until it was “used up” (at which point the remaining pieces would have been used for something else!). This ment you would have found items that were 10, 50, possibly 100 years old still in use in a household!
Life, then as now, was not stagnant.
It flowed through time and cultures. It was influenced by trade, wars and marriages. Remember to add a little depth to your’ re creation of the past. The variety of “things” available then, even on the frontier, was greater than you might think. Remember, just as today, wherever there is a market, there will be somebody there to supply it. A little more research and a little more variety will make re-enacting and the recreation of period environments so much more exciting for everyone!
Cooking in tin-lined vessels is easy if you keep one rule in mind- NEVER BOIL DRY!
There must always be liquid of some sort in the pan or pot. If there is no liquid, the vessel with become too hot and the tin will melt. This will result in a rather unappetizing dish. (Do not eat any food that tin has melted on.) If the tin does melt, the vessel may be re-tined depending on other damage done. Please call for pricing. Always use wooden utensils in a tin-lined vessel. Metal utensils will scratch the tin and may eventually wear through the tin. To keep tin bright, we recommend “Wright’s Silver Cream”. If the tin in your vessel becomes dark, that is OK. It is only cosmetic. The vessel is safe to use.
For nearly 300 years the Dutch were the leaders in cookware (much as the French are today).
Their pans and kettles were considered the finest available, and eagerly sought after in Europe and America. The Dutch were shrewd businessmen, and would never over look an opportunity for a profitable transaction. As a result, their cookware can be found literally almost “everywhere”! If you are a re-enactor, or furnishing a period setting between 1500 and 1750, any Dutch cookware would be appropriate!
It looks so right!”
We hear this again and again from our customers. Our response is always: “Because it IS right!” There are people involved in re-enacting for many reasons. Some enjoy the companionship, but authenticity is not very high on their list. These are completely normal. Then, there are those who make a serious attempt at “getting it right “, but would never let that get in the way of having a good time. These people are on the fringe, but are still within the “normal range”. Then there are the really SAD CASES.
The re-enactors for whom it is SIMPLY IMPOSSIBLE to have a good time unless everything is TOTALLY DOCUMENTED, 100% ACCURATE and IRREFUTABLY CORRECT! It is to these poor souls we have dedicated our work! We, like you, are perfectionists.
We know how you feel.
We want you to be able to live “normal” lives. To that end, we have made it our mission to provide the most accurate reproductions available, that these poor tortured souls may once again enjoy an event knowing that every article in their possession is historically correct and the finest available. No, there is no medication for people like us. Our only piece of mind comes from the knowledge that OUR STUFF IS RIGHT!!